US stocks open higher, on track for best week this year
By Associated Press
Oct 9, 2015 8:39 AM CDT
FILE - This Oct. 2, 2014 file photo shows the facade of the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. Pent-up investor demand fueled a jump in Shanghai stocks after Chinese markets reopened Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015, following an extended holiday but other world bourses were lackluster ahead of the release...   (Associated Press)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are opening modestly higher, keeping the market on track for its best week this year.

Mining companies were among the early gainers Friday. Newmont Mining and Freeport-McMoRan each jumped 4 percent.

Gap sank 7 percent in early trading after the struggling retailer posted disappointing September sales. Sales of women's clothing at Banana Republic slumped.

Alcoa dropped 3 percent after its results fell short of forecasts as lower aluminum prices continued to hurt its business.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 31 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,080 as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained a point to 2,014. The Nasdaq composite was flat at 4,810.

Bond prices fell slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.12 percent.